Nanoha: S Saint
by Person With Many Aliases
Summary: Flawless, loving, self-sacrificing, a being of miracles. That is a Saint. What sacrifice divides a Saint from a Fool? What cause is noble enough to follow to the end? To abandon all for? Now it is time for the Mages to discover for themselves.
1. Introitus

* * *

**  
Movement the First: Introitus  
**

_Too Many Years Ago:_

Coming to think about it, he wasn't actually sure why he left, considering all that remained of "home".

My god, was trying to just live a monumental task.

While it wasn't said out loud, he might as well have said it when he collapsed on his side in the endless fields of rubble All around him, the darkened skies of endless, twinkling night shown without care. Under his fingers, soil, rock, and concrete was all an unrecognizable mess of rusted dust. Any whole chunks clung together, begging to be smashed apart into powder, like sand stuck together. Every so often, he could see unearthed volcanoes and magma flows in the distance, throwing ash everywhere. Volcanoes constantly sprouting, volatile magic screwing with everything.

He wasn't sure of what he was stepping on. It could be just burned dust, or it could be the magically induced ash of the majority of the population. It didn't matter anymore. Dragging the battered canister of oxygen over to himself, he brought the mouthpiece over his face and gave another ailing groan, delaying death for a few seconds more.

Why did he stay? Did his ridiculous pride finally returned to bite him in the ass? He didn't really care to answer. All he knew was it hurt. Breathing was painful, his head was always swimming with nausea, the excess magic saturated the space around him, he hadn't eaten in days, and topping that all off, the gravitational forces were nearly nil, making his body unburdened and even more sickly. For all he knew, he was just walking on some crust that already left the surface, leaving him flung into space. The only reason he hadn't frozen to death by now was because the sheer amount of magic energy floating about was capable of generating its own heat, leaving him unpleasantly lukewarm all around.

This was the story of his life, doing nothing but exist for days, walking and crawling forward, and every so often, fall on his face.

"Oh god! Are you alright!?"

He rolled onto his back, glaring behind him.

"Don't worry about me. I'm just fucking peachy. Hell, I'll go into rigor mortis with a fucking smile on my face, because that's just how good I fucking feel, thank you fucking very much!"

The girl, perhaps 15 years old, stuttered to a stop, visibly shivering under his sheer ire. Like so many others, she probably escaped in a rush when shit hit the fan. Even now, her clothes were a mismatch of bare feet, and a heavy cloak over a thin pink camisole and sweat pants she had probably been sleeping in. She had short brown hair and green eyes, that might have been more vibrant in earlier days, but now seemed more sallow and weary. Though she was probably healthier than he was, her lithe frame had now gotten even disturbingly skinnier.

In his mind, this made it incredibly easy to call her Noodle Girl.

Her eyes started getting a bit soggy, either stress getting to her, or she was so good natured she was inherently unused to an extremely bad temper.

"I-I'm sorry... but you fell over... I... I'm sorry."

"Fuck this shit. I am going to lie here until I feel better."

He probably wouldn't, but he needed a break. His head plopped back into the earth, and spent several seconds breathing his oxygen from a tube, and staring at the stars. He idly pondered whether the magic was helping block out UV rays as well, because if it wasn't... well, fun times ahead.

"So, is our friend here finally deciding to lie down and die?" Another haughty voice cut in. He audibly groaned before looking up again.

"That is one pleasure I will never, EVER give you."

And this, considering they only knew each other for a few days, already. Unlike the brunette, the other girl was a half-pint that looked like she was certainly ten, but had a mean streak of a crotchety 80 year old matriarch. Also, while the he and the 15 year old were worn out, she seemed to relish the fact she was just as energetic and vibrant as ever, her flowing gold hair and almost luminescent blue eyes never losing their edge. She wore some black, modified school girl's outfit, which was all he could describe it as. With the ensemble stockings with visible garter clips running up and disappearing under her skirt, her exposed shoulders, functioning shoes and black lacquer nails.

Either way, with her sheer presence of vitality and authority, she forced him and the other girl to end up following her as the de facto leader.

So it was with these other two, that he was at least sure the remaining population of his home was "3". As it were, up to now, none of the three of them bothered asking for introductions. They didn't have the energy. They probably all had nicknames for the others in their minds, and out loud, it was just "Hey, you", or "girl", or "boy".

"You know, boy, you could solve so many of your problems if you simply just turned to one of us for help." The Half-Pint asserted for the billionth time.

"Stop calling me "boy", you half-assed piece of jail bait. I don't care what our ages are, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm the biggest of us all-"

"But obviously the least mature."

"Fuck you."

It was true, though. Whereas he had to deal with an airless environment and enough magic charge in the air to turn even this normally environment friendly energy corrosive, just on the strength of his own will, his two "pals" seemed to find ways to circumvent the issue.

Noodle Girl, since they first met, had her arms constantly wrapped around her red and pink grimoire, probably her only real last possession left, next to the star-shaped pendant she wore around her neck. Apparently she was a ridiculously powerful mage, enough that without any visible spell, her own magic she emitted already was neutralizing the corrosive version a few feet around her. Beyond that, she apparently was somehow creating her own oxygen out of nothing.

Half Pint, on the other hand, wasn't using any magic, and in fact, wasn't very concerned with the concept of death. He wasn't sure exactly what the hell she was, but apparently breathing wasn't a necessity to her. If she didn't need to breath, then sickness from magic over exposure probably wasn't a problem, either.

"Please! If you just stand next to me, I'm sure I can protect us both! You don't need to try and suffer through this alone!" The Noodle Girl pleaded again, "I don't want to watch another person die...!"

He bared his teeth at that idea, before rolling over onto his stomach, trying to lurch onto his feet, while taking more breaths from his scrapped canister of air.

"Die? I am not going to die... and I am not going to rely on someone else. I've made it this far, on my own power. I'm going to keep existing, keep being here, as myself. Even if all the stars fall from the sky, I'm going to keep thinking to myself, "I am here"! I will never... ever die from something stupid like this! I'm going to keep living...!"

_I have to keep living. I need to know that she's still alive, or at least was safe and sound when the ships left. Until then...!_

The toes of his boots dug into the soil and with a growl, he staggered to his feet, and continued to walk forward with sagging shoulders.

The Half Pint just sighed from behind, "Honestly... that ridiculous male pride of his..."

The Noodle Girl mumbled something under her breath and followed, the party of three continuing on.

When they crossed over a gentle hill, they were met by a curious sight. At least to him and the Half Pint. The Noodle Girl gasped in shock, and trembled.

At the bottom of the hill, where the three of them stood now, a pile of solid wreckage stood. It was a mess of cracked concrete, pieces of automobile, and girder and rebar jutting out from everywhere.

Impaled at the very top of this mess, via several of the steel strands, was a charred corpse. Other than the fact it was human, it was hard to discern anything due to the excessive burns.

He took a breath, and one of his eyebrows raised, "The fuck...?"

"Hmm, curious." Was all the Half Pint added.

The Noodle Girl looked away.

"How the hell is there still a body here? I mean, most bodies should have just been vaporized... it doesn't match up..."

The Half Pint took one look at the body suspended before them, and quickly came up with an answer.

"She's immortal."

"...Excuse me?"

"What!?" The Noodle Girl turned back, her eyes a combination of surprise and hope.

"She has an extremely resilient body, which is why she isn't vaporized, but because of those metal poles, while she's healing, her body can't wake her up from death."

"Wait, how can you tell that's a woman?" He asked, skeptical.

"What, you can recognize the difference of the female shape from the male?"

"Uh, not when it looks like dog food run through a furnace."

"We need to get her off those things, then!" The Noodle Girl vehemently demanded.

"I am not dragging around... literal dead weight!" He shot back, waving an arm at the impaled body.

"But we can't leave her like this! If she's still alive-"

"I am not sharing more of my air with another person."

The Half Pint glowered, "I'm interested in another immortal, boy. We're pulling her off. Or, we can leave her here, but I'm going to pester you so much about it, that you're going to walk back here and finish this. I'm sure you'll prefer more company beyond the two of us."

"My air, though. This is already my last tank."

The Noodle Girl piped in, "Well... I could refill it... that way, you don't have to depend on me so much...?"

He snorted. Perhaps there was no helping it, in the end, now that he was stuck with these two clowns. Well, at least this compromise wouldn't immediately lead to anything disastrous, so long as that char-broiled lady didn't turn out to be some psycho.

"Fine. If it got both your panties in such a twist, we'll get her off that shish-kebab."

"Well, get to it, then."

"...What, you're not going to help?" He glared.

"Well, you're the biggest of the three of us, right? You big man shouldn't need any help, otherwise, it'd be a slight to your pride, right?" The Half Pint sneered.

He gaped for a second, before closing his jaws in a foul frown, "...Little blood sucking bitch..."

Her grin only grew wider at that, as if it were some inside joke. Ignoring it, he shuffled over to the mound of debris angrily. Behind him, he could hear the other two having some girl talk about him. Noodle Girl probably being concerned about his well being or something, while the Half Pint just went on about how to "rein boys in".

He busied himself with jumping up the pile, dragging his oxygen with him, and somehow managing to get up to the body. If anything, the climb up was deceptively easy, due to the low gravity again. For once, something went nicely.

Of course, getting the corpse off her stakes was a bit of a task, a combination of the length of the rods, and the weight of the girl itself. Pushing her up and off must have taken a while, but he couldn't exactly tell. Even with a pocket watch he managed to scavenge off in the past, it still only had its hour hand.

Regardless, by the end, Colt held the body above his hands, and settled for tossing it down the pile. In this environment, the body failed to roll down the pile in a series of bone-crunching impacts, but simply sailed downwards gently until it touched the earth.

The three gathered about the body, him jumping down after.

"Well, I hope you're happy." He snorted.

"Certainly. She's already closing the wounds."

"She... she is going to get better, right?"

"...Hell, even I hope so."

The three stared at the body at their feet for some minutes, watching the puncture marks on the blackened flesh close up, and then the silent waiting after, hoping all was not lost.

Eyes the color of gold snapped open._  
_

* * *

_425 Years Ago:_

He and the other five of them rode through the valley, flanked on all sides by the columns of their marching soldiers, in their armor and devices. He wasn't against walking with them, either, but the men insisted that the six of them ride atop some of the elephantine, biologically engineered war beasts, each of theirs strapped down with a decorated platform, one of which he was now enthroned in.

Lording over people so gaudily wasn't quite his style, but he suppose, for the good of all his men, and to maintain morale, he would simply have to sit here in this plush seat, with a small bowl of meats, fruit, and drinks by his side, and ride it out.

He leaned back further into his chair, running a hand over his hetero-chromatic red and green eyes, and through his silvered hair. Looking straight ahead, from his vantage point, he could see more valleys in the distance, and the twilight sky. But dead in front of him, perhaps miles away, the twilight twisted away into a revolution of clouds and blood red sky, the glowing and burning of destruction and combat.

There was a time when it signified another battle, another war, to him. Just another day's job for him and his Soul Eater to hack away at, and earn his keep. But this was different. Here he was, chosen to lead his men not into war, but into a battle of survival. Not against an army of a multitude, but against one, single enemy.

The memories of it filled him with dread, and the sight of the burning sky, and no doubt the presence of it there, filled him with dread again.

But he had to do this. Him and the five others. If he couldn't do it, he wasn't sure who else would have the nerve to. This was the single largest combined army of all the clans on Belka. It was all or nothing, so very soon.

Before he could ponder any more, a knight flew in, propelled by a Pferde spell along his feet. He dropped into the platform, and in one smooth movement, went from balancing in the air to kneeling on one knee before him.

"Sir Ragna! I've come to report from the artillery teams!"

His eyes widened slightly, and craned his body forward from his original lax pose, his interest clear. This was the first phase of attack. Hopefully, this would be the only one necessary.

"Well..." He glanced over the man's armor and recognized the standardized rank color, "...Private, report then! Did it work out?"

"Sir! We threw everything at it that we could! We even used... no, we especially used as many N2 Mines as we could on the Black Beast! It still only took minimal damage, despite it."

"Damn, I suppose it was too much to ask for..." Ragna snorted.

The messenger continued, "But sir, it also seems the Black Beast has stopped moving. It might be in the middle of trying to regenerate it's damage."

Ragna stood from his seat, and walked towards the front perimeter of the platform, thinking hard as he watched the red sky in the distance.

It was both good and bad news. It was damaged enough that it wouldn't do anything for a little bit of time, but at the same time, regeneration could mean it could end up adapting to the attack. But he had to take what breaks he could.

"Alright, you guys did your best. Private, get back to artillery, tell them to retreat back behind the cover of the hills while it's still regenerating. I don't want them getting return fire from the Black Beast."

"Sir!"

The knight saluted and jumped back into the sky, flying as fast as possible.

A new voice caught Ragna's attention, "N2 Mine?"

The celebrated warrior turned back to look back at his seat, or more precisely, the person who was sitting on the floor beside it. She wore a ridiculously plain dress, and was currently barefoot as well, apparently enjoying the sensation of rug between her toes. The color of her features were unusual, even by Ragna's consideration. Long green hair framed a face marked by sly gold eyes, though they hid themselves well under an expression of seeming lethargic apathy.

Despite being her constant presence in this campaign against the Black Beast that had lasted nearly a year, the woman had still managed to remain an enigma that appeared when she wished, but never could be tracked down when she left. Even her name remained anonymous. For all her colorful features, Ragna still only knew her by the moniker she had assigned to herself: the "Gray Witch".

"It's the biggest explosive we can haul out without going nuclear." Ragna summarized.

The Gray Witch ruminated it in her mind, visualizing the kind of power such a bomb could have, and then simply nodded, "Ah... Sachiel's Absolute Terror technology certainly is formidable."

Ragna blanched, "Is that really all you have to say?"

She shrugged, "Why should I worry? We're certain that even if this battle will be climatic, you will be the victor."

There she went with that "we" again. All Ragna could really discern of her was that she was certainly much older than she looked, and that she was just one of a larger party that seemed to have an invested interest in his existence, for reasons he couldn't comprehend.

Sure, he was pretty strong, but...

"You guys, whoever you are, certainly have too much faith."

"And we know you have too little in your own skills. But the difference between faith and assurance is how much one knows about the situation, and my organization knows... much." The Gray Witch coolly retorted, standing up to approach Ragna.

"Yeah, and how does you knowing much change the fact that I'm just a Belkan knight, about to take on a living weapon from Al Hazred?"

"If we weren't so sure, we wouldn't have approached you with our contract in the first place."

"That contract as always. Even if I do destroy the Black Beast, what makes you think I'll listen to you?"

"Because we share the same interests. We're all looking for a way to bring peace to this universe. Are you really going to pass up this chance to bring order to the worlds, just to maintain your own pride?"

Ragna didn't answer, and kept staring forward out into the redness of his destiny. The Gray Witch walked away, calling behind her.

"Remember the contract, Ragna the Bloodedge. Prove to us that you posses the power of kings, and we will give you a kingdom that spans the stars."

* * *

_4 Years Ago:_

She was afraid.

She didn't know what really happened, but one minute, she was skipping through the congested Midchilda airport, on a mission to find her missing older sister, and the next thing she knew, there was a loud sound, and fire suddenly spread everywhere, and everyone was running-

She was alone. The immense heat of the fires everywhere pounded against her small body, mixing her clothes with her sweat, grime, and tears. Each breath dragged down hot air that dried her throat, and her vision blurred with the stinging smoke. Even if she could see properly, everything in the place seemed to look the same. Burning pillars, burning floor, burning everything.

"Ginga...! Ginga, please... save me..." Was all she could whimper through the blaze.

But her sister was nowhere to be found. There wasn't anyone, anywhere, and she was utterly alone.

Another explosion burst through the floor of the atrium she was in. The blast knocked her clear through the air, and sent tumbling onto her stomach in front of a massive angelic statue that was set on a pedestal. Once an unmovable image of peace that overlooked the room, it was now a ghastly, shadowed thing, its cracked face and body covered in ominous and grotesque shadows, the whole thing mutated into some crumbling monster that hovered over the crying child.

She was sick of wandering, and sick of being alone. She was sick of being here, hot and exhausted.

"Someone... help me... I don't want to be here anymore..."

She wasn't sure who she was talking to by this point, but all she could really do was bawl, hoping something, anything would get her out of here.

Unfortunately, that stone beast that had degraded from an angel was the only thing to listen, and also oblige.

The heat continued to dig their way into the multitude of cracks, and soon enough the whole statue simply opted to collapse forward. For the girl, she only heard a loud crack, and looked up to find the giant angel beginning to fall towards her, intent on slamming its several hundred pounds upon her little frame.

She couldn't find time to scream, and all she could do was gasp and shut her eyes, her mind blanking out, trying to avoid thinking of the coming pain.

But it never came.

After countless seconds, more than it should have taken, she cracked open one eye warily. The statue continued to look down on her, but no longer seemed to threaten falling anymore. Rather, several pink bands of energy had wrapped themselves around the majority of the structure, leaving it trapped in place.__

The child's eyes widened in realization at the cause behind this miracle.  
Magic.

"Thank god I made it in time...!"

She noticed the figure behind the nearly-fallen statue, who had her hand outstretched, obviously the one who cast the spell that saved her life.

For the child, at this very point, she thought she never saw a person more beautiful. A woman, separate from the scathing flames with her unblemished white robes. Radiant and glowing wings sprouted from her heels, holding her aloft in the heated air. In her left hand, the woman grasped a great staff, tipped with an elaborate gold head piece wrapped about a crimson jewel.

Somewhere in the back of her head, the girl decided, "Now here, here is what a real angel looks like."

And this woman swept down to meet her, kneeling slightly to encouragingly hold her by the shoulder.

"You've done your best till now, right? That's very brave of you. But don't worry, I'm here to get you out of here, so you can rely on me, too, now. Alright?"

She just numbly nodded, a bit overwhelmed with her sudden savior. The woman cast a spell, enclosing the girl within a pink dome for her protection, while turning around, staring at the shadowed and orange-liked ceiling.

She raised her stave, the headpiece pointed at the ceiling.

_"UPWARD CLEARANCE: CONFIRMATION."_ The staffed spoke.

Under her white clad feet, lines of magic and power formed into circular shape.

_"FIRING LOCKS CANCELLED. MANUAL DIRECTION IS SET."_

"Let's get back into the sky in one shot!"

_"ALRIGHT. LOAD CARTRIDGE."_

From the headpiece, two cylinders jumped out. From this, the staff sprouted free feathery glowing appendages, the same shape and make of the wings on the woman's body, as if it was an extension of its wielder.

"Divine... BUSTER!"

The girl's eyes widened as the ceiling burst in a neat circle, under the duress of the massive beam the woman fired off. Though smoke immediately swam upward through the new chimney, she could still clearly see the endless cool night sky and the comforting stars that dotted it.

What followed after was a sort of blur, as she was picked up the woman in white, the stark sense of peaceful eternity as she floated above the now silent city at night.

Even as she was dropped into the waiting gurney of an ambulance, she watched the woman take off, tirelessly returning to the hellhole she just left to see how much more she could help.

In the end, the girl had very few thoughts except for these:

'Why was she so pitiful she needed to be saved by a person so incredible?'

'She was going to follow that person for as long as her life could permit.'

Of course, it would take a little while before she actually discovered who the woman in white's name was.

* * *

_  
1 Year Ago:_

It was an understanding that the Doctor's labs were a combination of clean efficiency that trusted no creature except those he purposely enhanced, and incredibly wide open spaces. It was thus no surprise to her that silence often reigned in such places.

But this was downright eerie.

The silence here was overwhelming and foreboding, like a prelude to a beast that was hiding above and behind you, ready to snap you up. She supposed it wasn't far from the truth. She could feel multiple presences inside the large yellow-lighted labs, but none of them had approached her immediately.

She fixed her hold on the black case she held under one arm, and continued onward, careful, curious as to what had happened while she was gone.

Walking on in the hallways flanked by vats of unconscious women in their raised shelves, she reached what was normally considered the control center for the labs, where free floating holographic keypads and screens emanated.

And then came voices, one a stringy male tone, the other a lilting young female, both unrecognizable.

"The good doctor certainly is a man aware of his... limitations. I find that quite admirable in a man, actually. To know when, and when not he can rely on his vitality to please... or when to rely on toys or even... others-" The male voice leered.

"Please, the point." The female coolly demanded.

"According to the files, the doctor relied on outside parties to smuggle Relics for him, on an entirely random basis. Even he only knew the generalities. Afterwards, he sends his own toys after his smuggling routes, and steals the Relics from them on his own. This way, nobody knows where this location is."

"What does this mean for us?"

"It means the doctor's practically has done all the work for us. We just need to take over the schedule. He even has the shipping receipts and manifests on file."

"Will it really be so easy?"

"If you're so concerned, you can send one of us in a confirmed situation."

She heard a silence, presumably of the female ruminating on such a choice. The male continued, seemingly in awe.

"It's quite amazing... the system he has set up. Machines, diagnostics, the things he created, subroutines controlling entire life-styles... all the extra parties dancing to his little tune... he even has people personally stealing and transporting the Relics to him...!"

"So this is who this brat is." Another rough feminine voice groused from behind her, who was eavesdropping the entire time. The sudden surprise flank from behind shocked her into turning around, where she was met with a foot that slammed into her chest, making her cry out in pain and bounce into the center of the chamber, the case clattering away from her.

Through the strands of her purple hair, she realized she was circled on all sides by figures dressed only in white, which was accentuated with black, here and there. All of their faces were distorted, hidden, with masks and coverings of all kinds.

Devices of all kinds came pointed at her, and she realized, they were mages of some sort, a far cry from the doctor's disbelief in magic.

A small female, characterized by her long blond hair and red eyes that were revealed by a mask that covered everything from under the eyes downward, turned to a lankier man that towered over her with his butterfly shaped mask that had attached itself to his nose and spread out across his face elaborately.

"Zaera, I thought you said the security systems here were functioning."

"Of course they are. I wouldn't leave a beautiful girl like you just satisfied with a half-cocked job!"

"Then what's this?"

"Oh, I let her through. She wasn't moving like a hostile."

Another woman spoke up, "Ojou-sama, please remember that there are many things between Heaven and Hell."

"Of course."

The girl in white turned down to her, with narrowed eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"Where is the doctor...?" She quietly replied, quietly cautious.

"Oiyo, Bosso. Check, this, out! She's got herself one of our pieces!" Another one of the masked ones, crouched down, inspecting and apparently recognizing the case she held.

The girl in white nodded, in understanding, before looking down at her, "Your doctor is away on extended... business. What deal did he cut with you?"

She didn't answer immediately, untrusting. Who were these people that suddenly appeared? Did the doctor hire them...? She cared not for deals. Whatever they had, or thought they could offer more of, was all a shame she did not require. She only needed Relics to restore her-

"Did he promise to give you someone back you... cared about?"

She choked, her secret being mostly revealed. She knew if they accessed the doctor's databases, then they might have found out easily enough.

"So...?"

The girl in white's eyes lowered somewhat, as if having a great understanding, "Don't go just 'so'. We're not power mongers. All of us here, are bound by loss of something. Love, equality, humanity, dignity. We all have something stolen from us. We know what it's like to be utterly... deprived of happiness, and the desperation to have it returned to us by any means. Something precious isn't just 'so'."

She shivered, dumbfounded by those words coming from a person not much larger than herself.

"W-Who are you people?"

"We're few now, but we're still the Order of the Useless Sword. And you?"

"Lutecia..."

"Lutecia, I don't know what kind of agreement you had with the doctor, but would you like to have one with us? We should support each other, so that we can all what we're looking for."

"You're looking for Relics, too? Why?" Lutecia couldn't help but ask.

The girl in white's eyes hardened.

"I'm going to kill the gods that took our precious things."

* * *

__

_  
2 Weeks Ago:_

The sun shone bright on Midchilda's abandoned Coastal Airport Highway 8. Ever since the immense airport fire that consumed a this portion of the city, albeit with very few casualties, 4 years ago, the entire area remained in disuse, too many buildings to try and check for their structural soundness. A simpler solution was to simply build in a new direction. For the TSAB's ever constant pragmatism, they simply converted the abandoned areas into combat testing and exam grounds for mage hopefuls of their armed ranks.

Of the masses, a particular two arrived on the roof of a particular semi-shattered building, preparing for their exam to push them into their B-Rank in mage capability.

She stood, conserving her energy, patiently preparing herself for the coming trial, both in her mind and her equipment.

She opened the over-under twin barrels on her gun-styled Storage Device, pushing Catridges into each chamber before flipping them shut with a decisive click. As she repeated the same gesture for her second gun, she looked at the girl beside her, and sighed.

Her partner for the past three years, even this early in the morning, was a bubbly mess that was forcing all her excess energy out in series of rapid punches and kicks, quickly shifting her weight from one wheel-fixed foot to another, trading blows with one bare arm and the other holding her specialized gauntlet.

It was somewhat amusing, to see, but it wasn't like she would ever admit it.

So she chided instead, "Subaru. Stop moving around, or those cheap practice skates of yours are going to fall apart the moment we start the exam."

Her partner turned around, her short blue hair flapping from under her white headband. Subaru Nakajima gave a pout, staring at her with those big glistening green eyes.

"Don't say that, Te-a! I already oiled them before we came here..."

"Tea" just shrugged, before turning her wrist slightly so that the back faced her. There, a series of readouts emerged, showing local time and a countdown to their official exam. There was still some time left.

Tea turned back to her partner, "Hey, did you hear anything about this exam?"

Subaru turned from her basic exercises with a look of confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I guess not... Yesterday, I heard some rumor about our examiner being out of the ordinary for some reason."

"R-really?" Subaru blanched, "Please let it not be some horribly mean guy..."

"How should I know? It could be your precious idol, for all I know."

Subaru brightened up at that image, even if it was just a silly dream, "Heh, getting to see Takamachi so early in my life..."

"You make it sounds like some kind of impossible dream. She's still only a training officer and captain, even if she is some kind of amazing hero."

"Well, she still takes on the best of the best, and all that. Neither of us are even B-Rank..."

"Oi, don't lump me with your misfortunes."

Subaru rubbed her head, "Eheh, sorry."

With that, Tea sighed, before continuing to ponder, "Still, I wonder what the occasion is, if there's really going to be a special proctor...?"

At that, a new screen opened up in midair, revealing a young woman with brown hair, who leaned in, trying to see from her end.

_"Hello, are the two mages here for the B-rank exam present?"_

"Here, ma'am!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

She seemed pleased by the unison answers, and continued speaking.

_"Just to confirm, from the TSAB's 386th Battalion, Private Second Class, Subaru Nakajima present?"_

"Yes, ma'am!"

_"And Private Second Class, Teana Lanster, same Battalion?"_

"Yes, ma'aam!"

_"Both of you are currently considered C-Rank, but your taking the qualifying exam for B-rank, correct?"_

"That's right ma'am!"

_"Right then, I'll be one of the examiners and observers for today's exam. My name is Yagami Hayate, Lieutenant Colonel."_

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am!"

Teana managed to avoid gulping too loudly at the rank. Lieutenant Colonel!? What was someone that high up doing here? At most, these kinds of things were up to the sergeants... what was she here for? Why was she observing?

_"Of course, I know my being here may be a bit intimidating, but please, remember I'm not the only one proctoring. Do your best, and don't worry it."_

Afterwards, another examiner explained the nature of the course Subaru and she were supposed to run through. With both their consent to begin the course, the two C-rank mages tensed up, watching series of lights countdown to the beginning of the exam.

Teana's eyes tightened, few thoughts passing her mind as she watched the lights blink off.

__

3...

_Tiida... don't worry anymore..._

2...

_I'm getting closer everyday, to proving our worth. So don't worry..._

1...

_I'm going to prove to everyone that they can rely on us... our guns..._

0.

"GO!"

* * *

__

_  
1 Night Ago:_

"God damnit!" Was a word that repeatedly left his mouth as he heaved his body forward down the darkened hallways of Hotel Augusta. His large frame was great for speeches and meeting people in offices, a statuesque frame ready to bear down and intimidate or coax people as he saw fit, but here, being hunted, it was just extra weight, and extra time for his attacker to catch up to him.

He had been set up. Some person had the guts to try and attack him, one of the greatest generals of the TSAB.

Someone talked. Someone knew his connections, was able to convince him to have a private meeting at night all the way out here, at this out of the way, usually empty hotel and convention center. Even then, he didn't come stupidly. He came with enough bodyguards to ward off any attack, regular or magical, even for a "secret meeting" like this.

But instead, a single man had cut them all down. All of them down.

And the assassin looked at him straight in the eye, and sneered.

"How would you prefer this hunt? In the woods, or in the steel jungle of this wonderful building?"

So he let him run. Let him run. The bastard. After he got out of this mess, he was going to find out who wanted him dead, and make them pay. But he needed to find some terminal to call for help. Get people over here ASAP.

Panting and sweating, he dashed down the glass covered hallways and walkways that glistened in the moonlight. Down one corridor, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a room titled "Lounge".

A Lounge. Where people sit and chat. A lounge which must have an area for dedicated calling.

Twisting his body awkwardly, he grabbed the edges of the door, pulling himself towards the practical wood door, and twisted the handle open. Throwing himself inside, he found himself in a darkened room, highlighted by near invisible couches.

He quickly scanned the room, before finding several chairs lined up against the wall, which was dimly lit with lights in a manner that indicated sleeping monitors.

With a sigh of relief, he made his way forward, until something suddenly slammed into the back of his head. With a cry of pain, he collapsed to the floor, while lights snapped on, assaulting his eyes, while he lay on his stomach, trying to get the pain in his head to subside a little.

The assassin's voice chided, arrogantly and sarcastically, "I suppose it can't help that you're a bit predictable. When was the last time you were even in a combat situation? Or did you just live from one officer rank to another, one office to another? Tsk, tsk, has politicking made your brains soft?"

Groaning, Regius twisted onto his back, frowning as best as he could at the man who stood above him, dressed in a black coat and hat, taking a breath from an aerosol painkiller.

"Who are you... who do you work for!? Who sent you after me? Don't you know who I am!?" He demanded angrily.

The man in black waved nonchalantly, "Sure, sure. You're General Regius Gaiz. The TSAB's very own hawk made of iron. You think you're so fucking elite just because your fattening up your own ground forces."

Regius spluttered, "Is this what this is about!? I get it! You must be from the Navy! Or Saint Church! I knew it. One they, they'd send one of their men to get me! Well this just proves me right! The fact you people are so reliant on your special abilities-"

"Shut that shit spewer you think is a mouth, you fat piece of shit."

"Y-You...!"

"First off, I'm not from the Navy, and the Saint Church? Heh, yeah, that's a good one. I represent the ones who are in charge of the TSAB."

"The High Council? Impossible!"

"You wish. You think I'd bother taking orders from some brains in a jar? In fact, I'll be killing them soon, too. No, we're really the ones who tell the TSAB what to do. As for you and your brain friends? You're scum."

"How dare you say that... after all I've done for the Bureau! I've protected it! Fought for it-!"

"And now you're thinking you know what's best for it." The man interrupted harshly, cutting a glare into Regius, "It's one thing to simply struggle within the power structure, try to work it out for your own. But when you... and your jars, start turning to terrorists, like Scaglietti, to fuel your private army, out of some misguided desire to... I don't even know, do whatever retarded thing you were planning, and start doing your little secret shadow conspiracy shit? Ah, ha. No."

The man took another breath from his inhaler.

"Someone like you, you don't have the right to start pulling strings from the shadows. You've done nothing for the Bureau, not compared to what the Three Admirals."

"Them!?" Regius' ire crawled up his throat as he hoarsely shouted back, "Those three are just old wrinkled, figureheads! A living war story of the past! Their glory days are over!"

He grinned, "Their glory days are over, indeed, but their connections have never waned in our minds. You see, Regius. All three of them have something you lack completely. That's why we smile upon their ancient history, and why I'm about to make a greeting card out of your stupid ass."

"And what is that!?"

He tilted his head, shrugging, as if only an in joke would be sufficient explanation.

"Well, they were Lyrical. You're not."

Regius didn't get a chance to ask "What?", because in the next moment, a purple blade, paper thin, sank itself into the middle of his chest.

"To Takamachi, with love."

_

* * *

_

_In the very beginning, when our own home was still divided into kingdoms and tribes, and there was no strong ruler to unite the worlds, the Black Beast fell from the stars._

It knew not of love, nor hate, nor of any feeling of any kind. It was only driven by it's desire to blight everything it could touch, and burn everything it could see.

And though we loosed our arrows and steel upon it, the Black Beast's great form could not be harmed.

Seeing the threat of this monstrosity, our forefathers, the Six Heroes, eventually found each other, and bound themselves and the various kingdoms into a single army, unified in their desire to defeat the Black Beast and bring peace back to the land.

After a long and bloody conflict, which might have taken days, months, or even years, the Black Beast was felled.

The most revered of the Six Heroes, was made king, and led an empire that spanned planets. He was wise and just, for he knew all things. One of his eyes was a sea of blood, that knew of destruction, and the other was a field of grass, that knew of living.

And so our king led us to an era of prosperity.

But as we rejoiced, we did not know the Black Beast, in its death, had cursed our king with its very soul.  
_  
And so as we raised up our king, did we also raise up the Saint of Killers, the first of his benevolent and wicked lineage that destroyed all that was built and cherished, and scattered our men back into the stars.  
__  
So our Saint giveth, so he taketh away._

* * *

**Person With Many Aliases Presents:**

"**Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: S-Saint"**

**A Magical, Lyrical Sequel**

"**Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha" series property of studio Seven Arcs**

**Original Characters and concepts property of author Person With Many Aliases**

**Original Characters property of author Gaiacleaver  
**

* * *

**  
**New friends and allies gather together, and begin their instruction and mission. At night, ominous shapes take on a new color...**  
**

**Movement the Second: Kyrie eleison**

Charge your weapons, friends, show what you can do.

**So done on Earth, as it is in Heaven...**

* * *

A/N: S-Saint OP is "After Dark" by Asian Kung Fu Generation.


	2. Kyrie eleison

**  
**Subaru Nakajima planted her duffle bag on the new polished floor, before turning to Teana Lanster, who had followed behind, door sliding shut behind her. Her own bag was over the shoulder when Subaru piped up.

"Well, over all I think our exam turned out pretty well, right?"

Teana returned a dull, unamused stare, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you know. We managed to pass that exam well enough that even the Lieutenant Colonel wanted us! We got a new posting immediately as B-Rank mages and all!" Subaru cheerfully explained, "Over all, pretty good for one exam, right?"

"Subaru. We failed that exam. I bet a lot it had to do with you speeding at that last part-"

"Tea!"

"-and the only reason we're even B-Rank mages was because the head examiner was gracious enough to think we were worth a do-over."

"Well, yeah, but..."

"Hm?"

"Well, Nanoha was the one who recommended our retaking it, right? That means she liked us to pass, meaning she didn't really want us to fail. So, you can think of it like a delayed pass!"

"I... don't think it really works that way."

Subaru waved it away, "Don't sweat it! The important thing is that we're in a really nice dorm now, and someone's recognizing our talents. Just what you like, huh, Tea?"

"Fine, fine. It guess it did work out for the better, in the end." Teana tried to coolly shrug off.

"See? You just need a positive outlook."

"More like I just follow along since you're so incredibly insistent..."

Subaru gave a once over of the fairly spacious room they would be sharing for this year, before finally stopping at the bunk bed that was pressed against one wall.

"Tea, I'm taking the top one, alright? I bet you'd like being closer to the ground, yeah?"

"Sure... I bet it matches our personalities, too..." Teana noted, off hand, as she tossed her small suitcase onto the bed Subaru picked out for her.

* * *

**Movement the Second: Kyrie eleison  
**

* * *

**  
**There was a knock at the newly minted office of where Yagami Hayate would operate out of. From within, two captains dropped their salute to their superior behind that desk.

"Excuse us, ma'am, we're coming in..."

That was how Subaru and Teana, along with two others, came to be in the same room as Takamachi Nanoha, Fate T. Harlaoun, and Yagami Hayate.

Subaru and Teana immediately went into their salutes, snapping off their names and ranks with such practice they weren't even listening to their own voices. Rather, they listened to the introductions of the two other members they had only just met outside the door. They were two children, probably even only 10 years, but still moved with the perfect, stiff salute of a soldier.

"Private First Class, Eriol Mondial, reporting for duty."

"Private First Class, Caro Lu Rushe, reporting for duty, ma'am."

"I'm glad you all accepted our offer. How do you like the new accommodations?" Hayate asked genially.

The four recruits in the room replied amiably, in various ways, though they were generally outdone by Subaru's louder "They're really great, ma'am!"

"Well, good to know. I wouldn't want to have you suffering in there over the next year, and not know anything about it." Hayate smiled, before the cheer of her face firmed up with a more serious expression, "Well, I like to welcome you all to the TSAB's newest unit: the Mobile 6th Division for Lost Properties, otherwise known as "Riot Force Six". I'm sure you've all gone over the duties this unit will be suspected to fulfill, so take a seat. We're already dealing with a case as we speak, so the sooner you're all up to speed, the better."

Hayate's large office came with a sofa that was built along the wall. The recruits filed into the seat, while blinds slid out and covered the panoramic view windows, and lights dimmed. Nanoha and Fate moved to flank the sides of a large screen that projected itself into existence, its glow making up for the lowered lighting in the room.

"Riot Force Six was created as a means of fast response for any reports of possible Lost Logia on Midchilda. But the fact of the matter is that there's been a situation growing the past few years. This is our priority case." Hayate explained.

The screen opened up images of a red crystal, floating and swiveling harmlessly within an opened black case. Fate took over from there, explaining her her quiet, firm voice.

"The codename for these objects is "Relic". It may look like any other ordinary gem, but research confirms it dates back to the earliest of Belkan history. We're not sure what exactly they are, but the definitely are capable of absorbing and producing extremely high capacities of energy. Because of their potential, they've been designated as Class One Lost Logia. There's been at least 4 incidents, in Midchilda, and on other worlds, where the TSAB has found them. Every time it's been a result of the Relics going out of control and causing widespread damage."

The image of the red crystal was now backed up by smaller pictures of the handiwork it caused. Smoldering craters in the middle of forests, sparse wreckage in a newly created desert, an airport that was ablaze-

Suabru gasped.

_(T-Tea, that's-!)_

_(I know. Let's hear the rest.)_

"The destruction isn't the only thing we've found." Fate continued, "Two of these sites of incident also had illegal research facilities nearby, dedicated to researching high capacity magic, and genetic engineering. These facilities, when we discovered them, already showed signs of intentional demolishing, as if whoever controlling these sites were attempting to cover their tracks. Aside from the already prohibited nature of these locations, whoever responsible for all this is employing dangerous machinery to gather Relics. We've taken to calling them Gadget Drones. Self powered, autonomic war machines, since the appearance of the Relics, these Gadgets have also been found, looking for certain magic reactions, and employing force to attain them...

"And now they've been appearing more and more, here, in Cranagan."

There was a few seconds of silence to let that line sink into the privates present for the meeting.

"Someone is gathering these Relics, here on Midchilda, and whatever they intend to do with them, it's at least not with any consideration for the good or safety of the people here."

The screen turned off, then, leaving everyone momentarily in the dark till the lights slowly returned to proper levels.

"Our objectives are to capture and contain as much of the contraband Lost Logia as we can, as well as apprehend whoever is operating the Gadget Drones and intending to operate these Relics."

Nanoha spoke from there, "As the Forwards of our unit, you'll be at the for front of all our operations. Learning to deal with Gadgets is important, but more than that, being able to work together will allow you to deal with any opposition that may arise in this case. From now on, you'll be working together with us, understand?"

"We do, ma'am." Came the reply in unison. Their superior officers smiled.

"Good. You're specific assignments will be worked out later, but for now, know that Fate and I will be your commanders. I'll also be your combat instructor during this period. But because we both have several other duties in Riot Force Six, we've also assigned a vice captain to your unit..."

On cue, the door to Hayate's office opened again, admitting one more woman into the meeting. With her in the brown uniform like everyone else, she was best identified by her long blue hair that was adorned with a ribbon.

"Pardon for my being late, ma'am..."

Fate shook her head, "No, it's alright. We were just talking about you."

Subaru recognized the new person immediately. She started from her seat, surprised.

"Ah!? Gin-nee-aie!"

Teana had stood up at the same time, and smoothly combined her movement of quickly nudging her partner in the side with her elbow and giving a firm salute.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Sergeant Major Nakajima."

"U-Uh, likewise..." Subaru managed to imitate.

Ginga Nakajima managed to stiffle her giggle, but her eyes still showed her affectionate amusement, as she returned the salute, "Likewise. Like Captain Harlaoun and Takamachi said, we'll be in each other's care for the next while, so let's get along, alright?"

Subaru practically glowed at her older sister, ecstatic, "Sure!"

"Alright then, I suppose that's all we have for briefing for now." Hayate decided, before turning to her

Nanoha nodded, before turning to the Forwards, "The first training exercises will be in two hours. Be ready and at the south side of the headquarters by then."

* * *

The Forwards and their new vice captain made their way down the halls of the new headquarters building of Riot Force Six, getting used to their surroundings and chatting amiably.

"So, um, ma'am..."

"Hm? Oh, don't worry about it, Subaru. That's only in formal meetings. Otherwise, I'm just your Gin-nee." Ginga grinned, to Subaru's great relief.

"Ah, phew. I would go crazy having to call you "Sergeant Major Nakajima", all the time!"

"Yep, and where would I be if I was forced to say "Private Nakajima", too!"

The two giggled cheerfully, in their own little world, and Teana could only rub the back of her head, as a vestigial reminder of her disbelief, which had diminished over the years after she first became Subaru's partner.

_Yep. No worry about forgetting the two of them are sisters, every time they're side by side._

"Has Subaru been taking good care of you, Lanster?" Ginga asked, bringing Teana into the conversation.

Teana shrugged, "I would be lying if I said I wasn't grateful for her company... I guess."

"No need to be so modest!" Subaru suddenly added, slapping her partner on the shoulder repeatedly in good cheer.

"You, shut up."

Subaru just smiled it off. When one knew one well, it was hard to take one seriously at times. Teana sighed at her ineffective growl, and returned to Ginga, "So, Vice Captain, huh?"

"That's right. Takamachi and Harlaoun-san are still your captains, but because captain Takamachi will also spending much her time developing your training regime as a whole, and captain Harlaoun will be spending a lot of her time investigating the case as an Enforcer, they won't always be around to work with each of you on an individual level or provide on site instruction. Which is why I'm here. I'll be responsible for keeping track of your development and condition, helping Takamachi-san with the training, and of course, be your field commander."

"Well, either way, good to know your with us than against us." Teana smirked. Ginga gave her own smile of agreement before walking forward, away from the team, and turning around to look at them as they arrived at a T-section within the Headquarters' walls.

"Well, your rooms are that way," Ginga said, pointing down one hall, "I've got some work to do, so just get settled in. I'll see you both at today's practice. You know where, right?"

"South side of this place." Subaru piped back.

"That's right. Well, till then."

The Forwards watched their Vice Captain head off to whatever offices she had in mind. Erio could be heard from behind.

"So, Vice Captain Nakajima is..."

"My older sister, yep!" Subaru quite happily finished for him.

"I guess you're really happy to be working with her all the time, then."

"Heh, heh, I guess that's not so hard to see." Subaru sheepishly laughed, rubbing the back of her head.

"And Lanster-san knows her, too..."

"Well, I've been stuck as Subaru's partner for three years, now. I'd have to meet her whole family at some point, I guess. And when I say stuck, I mean, "stuck". Our previous training captains kept teaming us up because our styles were so bizarre to them." Teana answered, before brow beating Erio then, "You're suddenly talkative, now... and you had nothing to ask Ginga?"

Erio waved his hands, slightly frantic, "It's not like that...! It's just the three of you seemed to be getting along, so I didn't want to intrude!"

Subaru thought about that, since Erio had a point. "Well, we're teammates, though, so you shouldn't be afraid to talk to us!" She managed to respond with, scratching her head, wondering if that was the correct answer, before deciding to bring the final member of their team into the conversation, "Right, Caro? ...Caro?"

Caro, who was staring intently in a direction away from all of them, returned to them, confused, "Sorry?"

"...Were you even listening this whole time to what we were saying?" Teana asked. A small part of her wanted to be haggard.

"I'm sorry! I didn't want to impose on your conversation, so I just took the time to talk to Friedrich!"

That confused Subaru, and it was evident in her simple question, "Who? Where?"

"Oh! Friedrich is one my dragons."

Erio remembered quickly, "That's right, you use Summoning magics... but how can you talk to them without summoning them first?"

"Um... It's complicated to explain all at once, right now. But you can think of them always being around me, but they're invisible right now." Caro half answered.

Subaru hummed, the look on her face showing she was obviously trying hard to get the idea working in her head. Teana found it a good time to remind everyone.

"Well, that brings up an important issue. Our first training exercise is in two hours, so we should take the time to start learning each other's abilities and callsigns. You all alright with that?"

"Um, yes ma'am!" Caro responded after a pause.

"If that's what you want, miss Lanster." Erio said, in a rather practiced firm voice.

Subaru pursed her lips, frowned for a second, and then announced, "Just one thing!"

"Huh?"

"I don't want to spend the rest of my time being called just, "Nakajima" this or that!"

"But-"

Subaru wagged a finger, "Uh-uh! We're going to be a team, so there's no point being all polite and formal! Right, Tea?"

Teana silently raised her hands in defeat.

"See?" Subaru smiled.

"A-Alright... Subaru..." Caro bravely eked out.

"Great! So we're all friends!"

There might have been a great ongoing standing ovation in Subaru's mind when she said that. That was as far as Teana's sarcasm would have imagined, anyways. Either way, she patted her partner on the shoulder, trying to get everyone back on topic.

"Great, excellent... now, as I was trying to say in the beginning..."

* * *

Cranagan was a city that could be said as strongly characterized by its coastal scene. It was no surprise then that Riot Force Six headquarters had its south entrance facing the water.

Nanoha and Ginga stood on a pathway by the coast, when they heard the pounding of feet. Turning, they saw their newly minted unit of Forwards arriving in training uniform.

"Forward unit, reporting for exercise, ma'am!" Teana reported for everyone.

Nanoha nodded, "Good, everyone's all accounted for. Shall we get along with our training, then?"

The Forwards followed Nanoha's waving arm, with some confusion. Leading down from conventional coastal path was a metal walkway that plunged deep into the harbor side, where it expanded into a wide, flat field that had absolutely nothing on it. It wasn't the most exciting training ground to look at.

"Alright...?" Subaru answered.

"But we're going to train here?" Teana asked.

Nanoha stifled a giggle, "Don't worry. It may not look like much now, but... you want to turn it on for us, Ginga?"

"Alright." Ginga nodded, before calling up a series of screens, typing calmly on one keyboard while explaining, "You're actually all looking at a new kind of battle and area simulation technology the TSAB is considering implementing, and we're actually testing it out. You'll be the first to see it in action. A simple platform, after a few commands... is stage set...!"

Ginga finished her typing with pressing down on an activation button with the same words she had just uttered. A flash of light caught the Forwards attention, and found the pathway and metal field in the sea glowing blue. In seconds, A city unflattened itself, bottom to top, cracked high rises pushing upward into the sky, flickering like a projected image, before solidifying its colors.

And then there was a whole series of abandoned city blocks now sitting in front of the members of Riot Force Six, in the middle of the sea.

The Forwards stared in amazement.

"...Woah." Erio summed up everyone's awe.

"...Yeah." Teana agreed, taking back her original skepticism.

"Well, then, let's take a look inside, shall we?" Nanoha beckoned to everyone.

Following their Captain and Vice Captain, it didn't take long to cross the bridge and find themselves inside the center of the abandoned city zone. Here, they were told to prep their Devices.

Subaru took the time to roll over and push her hand up against the side of one building. Even thought the buildings had glowed into existence, Subaru's hand still met the consistency of hard concrete.

"It's actually solid..."

"That's right," Subaru heard Nanoha behind her, and turned around, "Apparently it's called hard light... We only have a simulation of the abandoned coastal highway at the moment, but if the technology is adopted, we'll expand to other kinds of simulated terrain... Hm..."

Subaru watched Nanoha lose track of what she was talking about, putting a hand to her chin as she started thinking hard about what she just said. Eventually, she snapped out of her reverie, realizing she was still in the middle of her training the new cadets.

"A-Ah, sorry, didn't mean to lose attention like that."

"No, it's alright, Captain, you can think all you want!" Subaru waved her hands. The idea of having to be in debt to Nanoha was insane to her, frankly.

"Ah-heh, well, I still have an exercise to perform, so..." Nanoha coughed into her hand, trying to regain her "professional composure", "We'll start with a communications check."

Everyone stood to attention, listening intently in the ensuing quiet.

Then, across everyone's mind, with a crackle similar to a radio, came Nanoha's voice across a telepathic spell.

_(Stars-1, here. Everyone present, check in.)_

Immediately came Ginga's voice, _( Meteor, here.)_

_(Stars-2, here.)_ Subaru responded next.

_(Stars-3, here.)_ Teana followed.

_(Lightning-2, here.) _Came Erio, after.

_(Lightning-3, here.)_ Caro said, finishing.

"Right, then I'll deploy the targets. We'll start with a set of eight."

This time Nanoha pulled up the screen, keying in commands, while faintly murmuring to herself.

"Maybe... we'll go with... C Movement... D Attack..."

After typing furiously for several seconds, Nanoha pushed most of the screen from in front of her, letting her look at the Forwards directly, while she reiterated.

"Remember, as Forwards for Riot Force Six, your objectives are to Search for, Protect, and Escort any Lost Logia that appears. To complete our mission, we may have to fight enemies who will want to take them. Such as these."

Nanoha pressed an activation button on the screens. The four privates heard the slow whine of a summoning spell behind them. Swiveling around, they found blue and black colored, upright capsule shaped machines, staring at them from a single amber camera lens, and various black buds that served as sensor packages. The same ones they had seen in their mission briefing only hours ago, now very real and in the steel.

"These are basic imitations of the Magic Autonomic Magical Machines you'll be most likely to encounter on this case, otherwise known as the Gadget Drones. These ones only react when you approach, but they still pack a punch!"

The Forwards looked warily at the Gadgets, as all eight finished emerging from the ground.

"Right then, time for Mock Battle Training, Number One. Your objectives is to destroy or capture all eight escaping targets. You have fifteen minutes."

Hearing that, the team of four tensed up, ready.

"Right then," Nanoha grinned, "Mission... Start!"

There was an explosion of movement. The previously inert Gadgets suddenly swiveled about, and raced off further into the maze of buildings. Matching this, the Forwards broke into a frantic run, chasing after the machines, Subaru racing ahead with a throaty yell.

As they disappeared around the corner, Nanoha couldn't help but chuckle at the vitality of her trainees. She turned around to look at Ginga.

"So, how long do you think it will take them?"

"Ah, shouldn't you be afraid I'll be biased towards my sister?" Ginga smirked, as the two took a look towards observation screens, with various mini windows that followed the actions within the simulation.

"Nope! It's because you're a good sister that you'll be even more scrutinous. Plus, in a way, she's also your student since you taught her her shooting arts."

"True. Well, it depends on how fast they learn to deal with the... unique challenge Gadgets pose, but, honestly, how fast Lanster-san will take charge of this situation. She's like that, after all."

"Heh, so you noticed..." Nanoha smiled, before looking upward toward the weathered high rises above them.

"Well, we better start heading up to a suitable height for observing."

* * *

"Alright! Let's beat them up fast!" Subaru shouted, chasing as best she could after the Gadgets.

Even as fast as the four were, however, they simply could not even match the speed of the Gadgets, as they quickly outstripped them down a long street.

Teana was thinking as fast as she could, dealing with every new fact she was being faced with.

_Destroy or Capture? At this rate, it's easier to just destroy them. They're basic machines, so they only react, but they don't proactively consider a situation tactically..._

Behind her, Teana could hear Caro panting a little harder to keep up with everyone. Even then, she was still the one lagging behind the most, even if she was keeping up with the pace.

_She's got the least endurance, huh. We'll end up all stretched out at this rate. We can't beat them in a chase..._

"Erio! Subaru! Caro and I are going to head for the roofs! Try to circle around and flank them! Destroy them if you can, but try to funnel them back down this street!"

This being the only plan at the moment, there wasn't much reason to complain.

"Right!"

"On it!"

Subaru continued to chase after the drones, while Erio broke off to the side, rushing into the alleyways. Distantly, he could be heard shouting "Strada!", with a minor sound of thunder ringing underneath.

Subaru paid this no mind, though, as she twined around street corners at break neck speeds on her mechanized skates, only just catching the behinds of the Gadgets as they escaped. Grabbing a street lamp, Subaru essentially flung herself off the ground as the took the next left after them, into a steep down hill.

The flying part wasn't completely planned.

"Oh, crap-!"

With the opposite row of buildings approaching, Subaru barely managed to kick her feet up high enough to kick and bounce off a wall, and continue being airborne, only this time in a perfect position down the Gadgets that were moving down hill.

"Here we go...!"

With the Revolver Knuckle on her right hand, Subaru balled her hand into a fist, while a slide on the impressive gauntlet pounded backwards twice, revealing the cartridge cylinder underneath, two of the pressurized magic shells released into the Armed Device.

Subaru twisted her body back as she wound up for a punch.

"Revolver... PHANTOM!"

Down came the punch, but from the fist, a ball of blue magic hurtled outward, heading into the middle of the huddled Gadgets.

In concert union, the machines simply broke formation a second before impact, letting them drift around the exploding ground like leaves, twirling around on their tubular bodies without a care and continuing to escape Subaru, who dropped back onto the ground in disbelief.

"Those are machines!? They dodged so fast!"

Teana's voice broke in.

_(Reflexes above that of a human, Subaru. Don't lose track. Keep herding them!)_

"R-Right!"

Down the streets, the Gadgets continued towards a T-intersection. From the right however, Erio slid into view. In his arms, Strada was head back, ready to swing.

**"LUFTMESSER."**_  
_  
Erio swiped out, the spear-blade at the end of Strada releasing several whipping strands of hyper compressed air at the Gadgets. Even with the wild and wide angle of attacks, the machines quickly backed away and around each blade of air, leaving them to cleave into building sides, breaking digitized concrete and producing dust and debris.

"I didn't get any of them... I think they're heading back to you, Lans... Teana, Caro."

Over on the roof of a smal office complex, Teana nodded to herself as she found the familiar blue and black blobs reappearing, crowded together as they came down the straightway.

"I see them. Keep at it. We might be able to catch them from two sides."

_Bottleneck like this... even with all their waving around like Subaru says, I'm a gunner. There's only so much anything can dodge._

Teana twisted her head a little to her smaller teammate.

"Caro?"

"Yes?"

"You think you can give my magic a boost? I want to hit them from here."

"Alright, stand still. It'll feel weird for a second, but you'll know when you get it."

Teana pulled her two "Anchor Guns" (as everyone took to calling it in her earliest days of training), and kept a firm aim on the approaching Gadgets as she heard Caro murmur "Kerykeion", along with a chime of the glove-like Devices.

"Dragon Soul Summon... Can you hear me, Diderot...? Manifest by your chosen element and fill my comrade's weapon without breaking it..."

There was another chime, and Teana felt a chill down her spine, like something huge and menacing was right behind her, and if it were physical, most likely eat her in a second. But it was only a momentary sensation of immense unease before she felt whatever it was crawl over top her shoulders, and then a sense of a path of warmth ran down her outstretched arms into her guns. Teana at least knew that her guns were being pumped up.

"...What was that?"

"Um, Diderot can only manifest in our plane as magic particles itself... so he's charging your Device."

"...I'll figure it out later. Here we go! SHOOT!"

Orange Midchilda seals burst out from underneath Teana's feet, and she hammered away on the triggers. Teana knew what "ordinary" shots looked like, and she knew the increased size, and they way they continued unceasingly towards their targets, even at this distance, that they were indeed, above average shots.

Unfortunately, it was for naught.

The Gadgets didn't even break formation when faced with a veritable hail of magic bullets. Instead, the lens on each glowed for a second, and before everyone's eyes, space seemed to warp for a second. Teana and Caro's attack slammed to a halt against a wall a few inches in front of each of the eight Gadgets, before fizzling out.

"... The hell was that? It nullified a boosted shot!? I've never seen a Barrier of that strength, just dissipating..." Teana gaped.

"It wasn't a barrier, Teana... it looked more like a Field." Caro corrected.

Everyone heard Nanoha's voice, then. While encouraging, it was carried an undertone of slight amusement.

_(I see you've discovered a rather nasty feature of the Gadgets. Caro's right. These machines produce a zone where in any magic of a certain level will be oppressed and nullified. Even high strength magics will continue to be weakened. This is the new weapon being used against us in the TSAB, the Anti-Magitek Field, or AMF. Conventional magic attacks won't work on them.)_

Subaru swore to herself as she watched the Gadgets fly upward at an angle, managing to come over top of a low rise building, "They're getting away, guys!"

_(A Gadget's AMF, unfortunately, isn't just a passive defensive measure, though-)_

"WING ROAD!"

Subaru punched the ground, and from her fist, a blue path built out of solid magic formulas jumped out, flying through the air in a solid path towards the building for Subaru to continue pursuit.

_(-a Gadget can also extend the AMF to many meters around itself, and when it's fully extended...)_

Subaru was half way across her Road, when she heard this. When she noticed the Gadgets turn around towards her, lenses blinking again, she also remembered how high off the ground she was.

The end of the Wing Road that was anchored into the edge of the roof suddenly faded away, leaving her suddenly very short of path, while the end, spilling fraying magic particles, whipped around wildly. Subaru screamed for a moment as she was thrown off, and off balance, and went through a window a floor below where she had originally intended to arrive.

_(...Well, an AMF can cancel aerial paths, flight magic, and even teleportation.)_

"...Ow..."

Subaru groaned to herself as she picked herself off the tiled floor. Luckily, simulated glass seemed designed in mind to not cut, otherwise, Subaru would have been covered in far, far more scratches and cuts.

_(Subaru! Are you alright!?)_ Teana's worried voice came over next.

"Yeah... somehow I'm alright..." Subaru could only helplessly chuckle.

_(Hey! You scared me for a second, you know.)_

"Sorry...!"

Nanoha talked again, _(Well, now you know the main trump of our opponents. While the Gadgets here have been adjusted for training, the effects are very close to what's been experienced on the field. However, even if the AMF is formidable, there's no perfect offense or defense. Any method can be defeated, and the AMF is far from unbeatable. Remember, whatever you do, plan it carefully, and carry it out carefully! Nine minutes.)_

Observing their last mess from their vantage point, Teana held her guns by her waist, considering.

"Caro, do you know binding magics?"

"Yes. Are you thinking that an AMF won't...?"

"I hope so. Subaru, you good?"

_(Tea, you know me. I'm not going to die just because I went through a huge window!)_

Teana sighed at the nonchalant reaction, before moving on, "You there, too, Erio?"

_(Yeah, I saw. These guys seem tough.)_

Teana nodded slightly, but amended the last statement, "Fast and tough, but they're still dumb. We can adjust our plan."

_(So, what IS the plan?)_ Subaru asked.

The Drones moved in staggered groups of four, one in front, and the next lagging behind.

Their randomized path this time took them toward an overpass that criss crossed the road on the ground.

While they did not have ears to hear the loud cry of "Strada! Cartridge load!", the Gadgets' many sensors picked up a sudden spike of activating magic atop the bridge. Defensively, the Gadgets increased their speed, while calling up an AMF around themselves. Machine programming assumed that it would be dealing with blasts of energy as always.

But they never considered the overpass being anything other than an overpass.

Erio, standing on the roadway above them, opted neither to slash or to dive at them. Rather, as they approached, his charged spear carved away at the ground under his feet in several indeterminable swipes. Though the damage initially could not be seen, they were precise, hair line slashes that went through all of the concrete. Erio leapt away.

With so many slices, the simulated bridge began to collapse, solid stone and steel breaking apart into heavy rubble, just as the Gadgets had unwittingly continued their movement under. When they realized there were "Physical Hazards" about to come at them, as their programming called it, it was already too late for them.

The first group of four disappeared under several tons of wreckage and dust. From it, two heavily battered Gadgets managed to slowly rise out of the cloud, barely surviving what their brethren did not. It did not mean they would last much longer still. As they still had no ears, they did not hear the passionate yell of Subaru's voice.

She was behind the collapsing overpass, waiting for an opportunity that presented itself in the two surviving Gadgets that had line themselves up rather neatly, along with a slab of rubble that was propped at just the perfect angle for her.

Blazing with as much speed as she could muster in the short distance, Subaru flew up the ramp and into the air, without the need of a Wing Road, growling to herself.

"So you guys block magic? Then the old fashioned WAY!"

And for the first Gadget, it became the quickly decided target of a flying roundhouse kick from Subaru, who put so much strength into it, she was twirling around like a top. The Gadget folded into two, and went flying into the side of a building, the impact promptly detonating it. As Subaru continue to spin about, she swung around and grabbed the second Gadget in a hug from behind. Their combined weight the machine could not support. As they crashed to the ground, Subaru pinned down capsule like war machine, it's "face" of sensors and camera shoved into the ground, where it could not retaliate.

"Spiral... Straight!"

With that, Subaru planted her Knuckle into the Gadget's backside, spinning gears adding torque to the punch and grinding the wound in the machine wider, until her punch had eaten its way into its innards. Subaru jumped away as the Gadget exploded, landing beside Erio.

By then, the remaining four Gadgets were close enough to open fire. From the same lenses, thin blue beams spat out, attempting to pepper Subaru and Erio in front of them. The two dodged about, sliding away in retreat, goading the Gadgets onward on their path.

"Dragon Soul Summon... Kant... manifest with the form that pleases you, bind the machines with yourself..."

The Gadgets felt magic underneath them. At this close range, they quickly threw up a small defensive AMF around themselves, just enough to avoid any attack, ignoring even dispelling the pink Midchilda seal that came underneath, for the moment.

Instead of any attack, though, the concrete itself seem to change shape, twisting away from its solid concrete, until several feet of solid links, shaped almost like scales, came snaking up into the air. The Gadgets didn't have time to react to their bodies being wrapped and held down by the summoned chains.

From a roof, Caro held the bind, while communicating with Tea, who had dropped onto a roof across the street, from another one.

_(Teana, I got them pinned. But I can't hold them and support you at the same time.)_

_(That's fine! Just keep them there. I'll finish them in one shot!)_

Focusing one one gun, Teana held it with both hands and trained it on the pinned targets, who couldn't even turn to face her as she looked down at them from the side. Now this, she was sure she could shoot.

_It's a matter of logic... Build a barrier around the shot... let that delay the AMF so that the bullet can pass through..._

Before her, a ball of magic sat just in front of the barrels, demanding to be fired. But Teana wouldn't. Not until she finished struggling to put an idea into practice, though with her hitched breath and deeply furrowed brows, it was not exactly easy to pull off trying to cover the whole shot with a second layer, which slowly grew around the original.

_Surround, already... surround...!_

It felt like an eternity to Teana, watching her own shell slowly perfect itself, until the last centimeter was finally covered in a darker hue of orange, which was followed by Teana immediately yelling to the command to "SHOOT!", sending the round firing off and homing in on the remaining four Gadgets.

The first struggled to resist the barrier, but it made no difference as the shell was already passing through the opening the barrier layer already made by intruding a little through the AMF. The bullet came through, carrying the barrier with it, and impaling the Gadget with a wide hole on either side. Then the next Gadget, and then the next after.

Subaru slid to a halt as she watched with elation at the four targets drifting somewhat stupidly with big holes in them, right before exploding in a cloud of electronics and bits of metal.

"You did it, Tea! You really did it! Four in one! That was awesome!"

_(Ah, shut up, Subaru. Of course I could do it...) _Tea's voice grouched through, obviously tired, _(...Good job.)_

"Teana's really good..." Erio added, as he caught up with where Subaru was.

_(I checked again. All the targets are down.)_ Caro's voice reconfirmed.

_(Good... then let's finish this, shall we?)_ Teana responded. There was a bit of a smirk coming with that line.

Subaru smiled, before starting, _(Captain Takamachi! All targets down! Stars-2 Reporting!)_

_(Stars-3, here.)_

_(Lightning-2, here.)_

_(Lightning-3, here!)_

_(This is Stars-1. Ginga and I both saw it. Done in 13 minutes. Very good for a first time. You all adapted fast, dealt with a changing situation, and now you know a little more about the Gadgets. I can consider this mission, complete!)_

_

* * *

  
_

Night came for all of Midchilda, the headquarters of Riot Force Six, included. For the Forwards, it was a promise for some time of respite.

Teana and Subaru went down the halls of their new home, in casual, sighing with relief and exercising their sore arms.

"Ah, training sucks the life out of you, doesn't it, Tea? Good thing for the showers...!" Subaru sighed, still running on bliss of relaxation.

"Don't tell me you're getting tired of the Captain's training already?" Teana joked lightly, smirking.

"Ah, hardly! This training is great. You feeel the burn!"

"Uh huh."

"But I bet Tea doesn't like hard work right? Lazy gunner!"

"Hey, shut up."

"Camper!"

"Oh, you did not-!"

The two laughed, Teana chasing after her partner with a damp towel, until they reached a lounge, where Erio and Caro were relaxing.

"Hey!" Subaru boisterously greeted, as always, Erio and Caro returning with a counter of politeness.

"Evening, Subaru."

"Hello, Teana."

"How's that for first day, huh?" Subaru grinned, jumping down to sit beside her younger teammates, "We're a great team!"

"I suppose..." Caro wisely put it.

"Don't get carried away, Subaru. Don't want your love of hard work to wear your joints out before we even hit the field." Teana said, brow beating her partner with an opportunity to snark back for her previous quip.

Subaru spat a tongue out at her friend, "Well, I'm sure if Gin-nee comes by, she'll agree we can take on anything!"

That was when Erio interrupted, "Actually, I think Sergeant Nakajima went out..."

Subaru turned around, somewhat surprised, "Really? On the first night? I figured she'd want to check up on us. You know, Vice-Captain and all..."

"That's what I heard. Fate was also heading out with her on some assignment when I saw her, so that's how I know."

Teana pursed her lips thoughtfully, "Hm... must be pretty important."

* * *

_(Lightning-1, this is Meteor. How's things?)_

_(Field's holding so far. They're heading your way, intercept in 10 seconds. I'll be right behind.)_

_(Got it.)_

"Blitz Caliber!"

"**READY, BOSS."**

Ginga rushed down the alleyways of Cranagan while it slept. The path was covered in trash, and the area around her was closed in with sickly, dull colors, the sign of a Field having been set up to momentarily turn the section of the city into an isolated battlefield, safe as it can be from civilian bystanders. She was dressed in a full Barrier Jacket, white body suit accented with a black and purple jacket, her ribboned hair waving from the speed, while Blitz Caliber on her feet, and the Revolver Knuckle on her left hand continued to take her down the alleyways, spinning all the while.

Then the first of the Gadgets appeared. It had already turned around, and was spraying the narrow space between the walls of the building with lasers.

_This is nothing like the practice ones...!_

Ginga thought this darkly to herself as she rode up a wall and bounced between the two.

"Blitz!"

**"TRI-SHIELD."**

A Belkan sigil threw itself up between her outstretched, Knuckled palm, and the onslaught of beams fired at her, each bouncing off harmlessly.

As the three Gadgets trained their sights on her, something black, white, and blond fell out of the sky in a dive bomb, glowing scythe blade behind her.

"Bardiche!"

"_HAKEN SABER."_

The blade was hurled, turning into a circlet of electrified magic that carved through one Gadget and bit halfway through another. As one of them exploded, the remaining swiveled around, trying to get a lock on the second woman that was swooping down on them.

**"STORMTOOTH."**

The Gadgets were bulldozed from behind by the blitzkrieg of a charging Belka practitioner, detonating them.

Ginga slid to a halt and spun around to face the smoking wreckage, while Fate dropped down to join her.

"I think that was the last of them"

"I checked, those were the last. We'll wait for the smoke to clear before I cancel the Field."

"Alright."

Both of them stared rather grimly at the Gadgets, the real thing, that they faced again tonight.

"Do you think Subaru and the rest are ready for this...?" Ginga wondered.

"You're the one participating in their training more often. What do you think?"

"I can only hope they will be when the time comes."

Fate hummed, "Don't worry. I trust Nanoha and Hayate. They'll send the Forwards when the time is right. Caro and Erio are in the team, too, after all..."

Ginga shrugged, "True. It's just... they're coming more often now. Whoever's sending these is getting more tenacious."

"You're right... but that's not the only thing... the colors..."

Ginga turned to Fate with some confusion. "What?"

"You've only joined Riot Force Six, so you wouldn't know, but the TSAB has been dealing with Gadget activity for a while, even before the Airport happened, and Hayate forming the this unit... but before, the colors were always blue and black... but now..."

Fate could only stare at the mechanical wreckage in white and black.

White and Black.

Fate knew the insinuations, knew the message it sent, knew the kinds of people, was even there herself. Because of all of that, a part of her desperately hoped she was only making baseless assumptions. Which was why she lamely finished her sentence.

"...Something's changed."

Ginga stared at Fate's narrowed eyes and cheerless mouth, "Do you have an idea what's changed?"

"...I hope I'm wrong."

* * *

Before they can even be comfortable with their new mettle, steel wheels spin out of control. A Relic hurtles towards disaster.

**Movement the Third: Dies irae**

And so will the Mages and Ghosts meet violently again.

**So done on Earth, as it is in Heaven...**

* * *

**A/N:** Finally up and running again. Well, chapter is a chapter. I'm sure you're all noticing little changes I made to characters and plot. In the name of the AU...! Well, hopefully I'll be better about the next chapter. Tell me if the fellows are in character.


End file.
